Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962)
Author of All Passion Spent
About the Author
Poet and novelist Vita Sackville-West began writing as a child. Born at elegant Knole Castle, scene of Virginia Woolf's novel Orlando (1928), Sackville-West was educated in that 365-room dwelling. In 1913 she married Harold Nicolson (see Vol. 3), journalist, diplomat, and biographer. Despite show more Nicolson's homosexuality and her own lesbian affair with Violet Trefusis, this marriage survived. Poems of East and West, her first book, was published in 1917. She remained unknown except by a small group of literary connoisseurs until 1927, when she received the Hawthornden Prize for a second volume of poetry. At this time she lived in London and was part of the Bloomsbury group, which also included Lytton Strachey (see Vol. 3), E. M. Forster, John Maynard Keynes (see Vol. 3), and Woolf. Sackville-West published many novels and volumes of poetry, biography, and family history, and several books on gardening, as well as book reviews and criticism. All of her writings reflect the same unhurried approach, deep reflection, and brilliantly polished style. Her influence on other writers, especially Woolf, was perhaps greater than her own individual achievement. The Edwardians (1930) and All Passion Spent (1931) are her best-known novels. Sackville-West's son, Nigel Nicholson, recounted the close, but unconventional relationship of his parents in the memoir Portrait of a Marriage, published in 1973. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Philip Alexius de László d. 1937
Series
Works by Vita Sackville-West
Vita and Harold: The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson (1992) 168 copies, 2 reviews
A Note of Explanation: An Undiscovered Story from Queen Mary's Dollhouse (2017) 70 copies, 4 reviews
Daughter of France: The Life of Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchesse de Montpensier, 1627-1693, La Grande Mademoiselle (1959) 38 copies, 2 reviews
COLLECTED POEMS Collected Poems Including Fifty New Ones, by the Author of all Passion Spent (1934) 8 copies, 1 review
Selected poems (New Hogarth library) 7 copies
King's Daughter 6 copies
Poems of the Land Army: An Anthology of Verse by Members of the Women's Land Army (1944) — Foreword — 1 copy
Correspondance 1 copy
The Devil at Westease 1 copy
SFIDA 1 copy
Associated Works
Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the 17th Century to the Present (1994) — Contributor — 482 copies, 1 review
What Did Miss Darrington See? An Anthology of Feminist Supernatural Fiction (1989) — Contributor — 126 copies
The New Decameron, the Third day — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Sackville-West, Vita
- Legal name
- Sackville-West, Victoria Mary
- Birthdate
- 1892-03-09
- Date of death
- 1962-06-02
- Gender
- female
- Education
- privately educated
- Occupations
- poet
travel writer
gardener
columnist
author
novelist (show all 7)
Magistrate/Justice of the Peace - Organizations
- The Observer
- Awards and honors
- Order of the Companions of Honour (1946)
Veitch Memorial Medal (1955)
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow, 1947)
W. H. Heinemann Award (1946) - Relationships
- Nicolson, Harold (spouse)
Chaplin, Alvilde (lover)
Trefusis, Violet (lover)
Nicolson, Juliet (granddaughter)
Nicolson, Benedict (son)
Nicolson, Nigel (son) (show all 7)
Woolf, Virginia (lover) - Cause of death
- abdominal cancer
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Knole House, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Knole House, Sevenoaks, Kent, England, UK
Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
Sissinghurst, Kent, England, UK
London, Middlesex, England, UK - Place of death
- Sissinghurst, Kent, England, UK
- Burial location
- Sackville Family Chapel, St. Michael and All Angels Church, Withyham, East Sussex, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Discussions
British Author Challenge March 2023: Vita Sackville-West & Tariq Ali in 75 Books Challenge for 2023 (March 2023)
January Read: Vita Sackville West in Virago Modern Classics (January 2019)
Reviews
“On the contrary," said Lady Slane, "that is another thing about which I've made up my mind. You see, Carrie, I am going to become completely self-indulgent. I am going to wallow in old age. No grandchildren. They are too young. Not one of them has reached forty-five. No great grandchildren either; that would be worse. I want no strenuous young people, who are not content with doing a thing, but must needs know why they do it. And I don’t want them bringing their children to see me, forshow more
it would only remind me of the terrible effort the poor creatures will have to make before they reach the end of their lives in safety. I prefer to forget about them. I want no one about me except those who are nearer to their death than to their birth.
These things—the straw, the ivy frond, the spider—had had the house all to themselves for many days. They had paid no rent, yet they had made free with the floor, the window, and the walls, during a light and volatile existence. That was the kind of companionship that Lady Slane wanted; she had had enough of bustle, and of competition, and of one set of ambitions writhing to circumvent another. She wanted to merge with the things that drifted into an empty house, though unlike the spider she would weave no webs. She would be content to stir with the breeze and grow green in the light of the sun, and to drift down the passage of years, until death pushed her gently out and shut the door behind her.”
When Lady Slane’s husband passes away well into his 90s, her six children and their spouses set about determining how she will spend the rest of her life: she will divide her time between each couple, living in their homes and contributing to the expenses in a manner which will be amply profitable to them. But 88 year-old Deborah, Lady Slane, who has always effaced herself behind her husband, the former Viceroy of India and a member of the House of Lords, decides otherwise; she will move into her own house in Hampstead, thank you very much, and furthermore, she will only invite elderly people like herself who have similar priorities and share her views on life. Now that she is closer than ever to dying, she wants nothing to do with the constant striving and ambitions of the young. Having installed herself in her new house, she makes a very good friend of the cottage’s owner, the elderly and very thoughtful Mr Bucktrout, who sets about renovating and redecorating the house at his own expense so she can live in greater comfort. Then a vague acquaintance, a man from her distant past in India, Mr FitzGeorge, who has become a millionaire and an eccentric, renown for his collection of fine art, reintroduces himself into her life. He has always been in love with the once beautiful Lady Slane, and they form a special kind of friendship which will influence the rest of her ladyship’s few remaining years.
Vita Sackville-West, who among her many passionate love affairs, famously had Virginia Woolf as a lover, here explores how a woman who has both money and rather more than a simple room of her own might choose to live out her final years, having the ability to free herself of social constraints. The back story about the close friendship between these two authors was far from my mind when I chose to read this book, so it turned out to be a very timely read so shortly after revisiting Woolf’s A Room of One's Own. I loved and took comfort in these reflections on old age, and how one might eventually look back on life from the distance of a great many decades, having acquired completely different priorities from those of earlier years. I also found it strange and intriguing that these reflections resonated perfectly with my own at this stage in my life, albeit my 93-year old friend I’ll call “Lisel” considers me to be a mere young girl still, all things being relative, as always.
The title of the novel comes from the last line of John Milton’s Samson Agonistes, a portion of which Sackville-West used as the book’s epigraph:
show less
324. From 'Samson Agonistes
ALL is best, though we oft doubt,
What th' unsearchable dispose
Of highest wisdom brings about,
And ever best found in the close.
Oft he seems to hide his face,
But unexpectedly returns
And to his faithful Champion hath in place
Bore witness gloriously; whence Gaza mourns
And all that band them to resist
His uncontroulable intent.
His servants he with new acquist
Of true experience from this great event
With peace and consolation hath dismist,
And calm of mind all passion spent.
Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I really loved this book. After the death of her husband, 88-year old Lady Slane shocks her children by announcing that she plans to leave the family estate and rent a house in Hampstead Heath--a house that holds many fond memories of her younger days. Even more shocking, she dictates that none of her children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren may visit without an express appointment (and those are given infrequently). As a woman who has spent show more her entire life pleasing others and doing what they expected of her, she finally decides to live as pleases herself. She recalls her early dreams of becoming a painter, and how those dreams were squelched by a proposal that everyone else thought was a brilliant triumph--even though the 18-year old Deborah was not convinced that she was really in love or that she was ready to give up her own independence and aspirations. Looking back on her life, she recalls moments of happiness, moments when she did indeed love (or at least appreciate) her husband and felt fleeting moments of affection for the children who, for the most part, turned out to be disappointments. But as she moves towards death, Lady Slane decides that, while there is still a little time left, she need please no one but herself.
Lately, I've been thinking more and more about the time wasted in the past and the time that I have remaining to make something of my life, and, in that regard, this novel really touched home. I listened to it on audio, brilliantly read by Wendy Hiller, who played Lady Slane in the TV adaptation. It's a quiet, contemplative book, but one well worth one's time. Vita Sackville-West gives us a portrait of aging that goes far beyond the mourning the loss of youth and beauty to ask significant questions about selfhood and the meaning of life itself. show less
Lately, I've been thinking more and more about the time wasted in the past and the time that I have remaining to make something of my life, and, in that regard, this novel really touched home. I listened to it on audio, brilliantly read by Wendy Hiller, who played Lady Slane in the TV adaptation. It's a quiet, contemplative book, but one well worth one's time. Vita Sackville-West gives us a portrait of aging that goes far beyond the mourning the loss of youth and beauty to ask significant questions about selfhood and the meaning of life itself. show less
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West is a delightful and introspective novel about societal expectations of women versus their personal desires. As a young woman, Lady Slane was expected to be a dutiful wife of a future politician and, hence, abandoned her dreams of being an artist. After the death of her husband 70 years later, she steps away from the expectations of her children and ventures out to finally experience life as an independent woman. All Passion Spent introduces us to a show more few heart-warming characters and provides a lesson that life should be about the “coulds” not the “shoulds,” and most importantly, to lead life with your heart. This was my first Vita Sackville-West novel, and I found her writing style absolutely lovely. While a contemporary of the more modernist Bloomsbury writers, she wrote in a more traditional style with lush, flowing narratives. Vita Sackville-West didn’t consider herself a feminist, but All Passion Spent certainly carries themes of autonomy and self-determination of women. “Achievement was good, but the spirit was better.” Vita may have been best known for her relationship with Virginia Woolf and as muse for Woolf's novel Orlando, but she was also a prolific novelist, nature writer, biographer, and poet. Certainly one of my favorite early 20th century British personalities. Now a favorite author. show less
All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West is a delightful and introspective novel about societal expectations of women versus their personal desires. As a young woman, Lady Slane was expected to be a dutiful wife of a future politician and, hence, abandoned her dreams of being an artist. After the death of her husband 70 years later, she steps away from the expectations of her children and ventures out to finally experience life as an independent woman. All Passion Spent introduces us to a show more few heart-warming characters and provides a lesson that life should be about the “coulds” not the “shoulds,” and most importantly, to lead life with your heart. This was my first Vita Sackville-West novel, and I found her writing style absolutely lovely. While a contemporary of the more modernist Bloomsbury writers, she wrote in a more traditional style with lush, flowing narratives. Vita Sackville-West didn’t consider herself a feminist, but All Passion Spent certainly carries themes of autonomy and self-determination of women. “Achievement was good, but the spirit was better.” Vita may have been best known for her relationship with Virginia Woolf and as muse for Woolf's novel Orlando, but she was also a prolific novelist, nature writer, biographer, and poet. Certainly one of my favorite early 20th century British personalities. Now a favorite author. show less
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- Works
- 99
- Also by
- 20
- Members
- 7,278
- Popularity
- #3,358
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 192
- ISBNs
- 403
- Languages
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- Favorited
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